I’m more familiar with the WB lines, but I’m looking at a nice, larger OTTB mare with Giants Causeway as a dam sire, and also as a great grandsire on the sire’s side. I know enough to understand Storm Cat is a tricky line. I’ve heard they’re spooky and difficult, at least in many cases. So, should I be worried about him being in there twice? Any specific info or knowledge about Giants Causeway would be appreciated. This mare is young and hasn’t done anything since coming off the track, so it’s hard to evaluate her work ethic and temperament.
For reference, this mare’s sire is Verrazano.
Thanks!!
At this point he’s probably far enough back, even doubled. He was a sire of sires as well as a broodmare sire, so doubling is only going to get more common.
I liked several of his local sons from a sport perspective. For a while we had tons of Freud (GC’s full brother) and the occasional GC at my local track. They were nice enough to make flippers take sit up and take note. You were practically guaranteed a big, sporty, flashy horse sired by either. Their athleticism was all over the board but they were all typey.
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I like Giant’s Causeway. I have one right now and he fits the type - big, flashy, with a big ole booty. And he’s the sweetest thing on earth too 
I wouldn’t worry about Storm Cat, he’s getting pretty far back these days. I’ve ridden quite a few with him as a grandsire and doubled up, none of them were notably quirky. SC was an athlete and passed that on, some of his sons passed on better minds.
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Giant’s Causeway was in many ways (size, shape, demeanor) the antithesis of his sire. I bet the mare you’re looking at is big and pretty, and with Storm Cat’s placement in her pedigree I would not expect her to share Storm Cat’s temperament.
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His damsire too!
I’ve said this before regarding SC but I never thought he was a bad sire in terms of temperament. Just a recognizable one, so many people blamed him for things that may have been management or something else. I rode many direct SC offspring and didn’t find them tricky: across the board they were honest, sensibly sensitive, and just wanted fair handling (what horse doesn’t?).
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It’s such a crapshoot. I have a GC son and he’s 15.1 on a big day and hot to a fault. I’ve ridden many others and they’re lovely, athletic and big horses. I prefer to really look at the horse in front of you rather than worrying about the page. A nice horse is a nice horse.
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Buy it. I actively seek them out for sporthorses. If I wanted to breed again I’d try to find a Giants Causeway mare to cross with a WB.
My personal horse is a GC, I’ve bought two for clients and a grandson (by Stonesider). I’m currently training a granddaughter by Fairbanks. I’ve loved them all. Big, quiet, good jumpers, great canters.
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Did you buy it? I want to see pedigree and photos!
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I’m going to go try her Monday.
Things were delayed when I asked to see a copy of her papers, and the owners didn’t have them. But apparently the breeder has been contacted, and papers are being sent. Since my mares do double duty as sport/show horses, as well as occasionally producing a foal or two, the lack of papers was a dealbreaker for me. I’m delighted they were located and I’m looking forward to meeting this big chestnut mare. Of course, if she joins the family, there will be all sorts of photo spam. 
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The Jockey Club doesn’t issue actual (paper) papers anymore. It’s all electronic now. So depending on the mare’s age, there may not be papers to see. But they can be looked up online.
(Also looking forward to pictures!)
I’ve seen a few Verrazano offspring advertised as easy ammy friendly restarts through flippers. He tends to stamp them with certain look too. N = 1, the one I had was an easy restart but when it came to doing harder work he was pretty unmotivated and could be nappy.
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What’s on the bottom of this horse’s pedigree?
Verrazano is a very, very good looking, sporty horse.
Giants Causeway does not play by the “Storm Cat” temperament rules (which I think are stupid anyway, but whatever). He and his offspring are much more reliable in temperament. Giants Causeway also passed on exceptionally sporty types.
I would expect a Verrazano horse to have above average sport ability and a trainable temperament… not a deadhead, but trainable.
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Hopefully the picture comes through, but if not, she’s by Verrazano out of a Giants Causeway/Silver Deputy dam.
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I like her damside even better.
I really like the Silver Deputy horses I’ve known. Good gallopers and excellent jumpers.
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The Giant’s Causeway wouldn’t worry me at all, albeit I’m not buying the horse. 
Halo on the top and Roberto on the bottom could pop up, but they’re so far back I wouldn’t be worried about temperament. As always, get a sense of the horse you are seeing in front of you, that you or someone you know are handling, and take a look, or do some research about the produce of the Dam.
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I guess I’ll be the voice of dissent and mention that I tend to avoid GC. I handled several of his offspring for the sales, did not have a good opinion of them mentally. I would have given him the benefit of the doubt (not a big enough sample size) except two racing professionals that I really trust both confirmed my experience. One was a very, very well known KY chiropractor… walking into the yearling colt’s stall, he had his “moment” and without skipping a beat she said “Oh this one’s a squirrel, let me guess, GC? They all have squirrels for brains…” Another dear racehorse friend had a mutual acquaintance trying to give me a “Very Nice” horse off the track, but friend said “You do NOT want that one, he’s a GC, and all that goes with it. Stay far away.” I heard other rumblings from various other racing sources; many saying they could be exceptionally talented, beautifully built, but the brain was definitely hit and miss.
GC does usually bring size and movement to the table, as well as flashy, so if you know the brain is good I wouldn’t worry about him somewhere in the damside. But he isn’t one that I personally look for. I prefer to see Storm Cat through Hennessy or Stormy Atlantic.
Verrazano made some nice kids. Generally rangy types, thick built and pretty good minded, from the ones I met at the 2yo sales. Common with More Than Ready sons.
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I had two Giants Causeway sons. Both had excellent temperaments and were good athletes. The younger gelding never made it to the track and was pretty laid back. The second GC was a gelding out of a Silver Charm mare. I acquired him when he retired from the track…at age 10, with over 70 starts. He was 100% sound and clean legged and was as athletic as they come. It took him a bit to settle into living on my farm in the middle of nowhere after the active track life, but he was a wonderful horse.
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It may be different from a racing perspective. My own precious darling was apparently a rogue on the track for his exercise rider. He won quite a bit, but he’s really not a horse who enjoys going fast.
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I went and looked at the mare on Monday. She’s cute. A bit of a big/plain head, but nice type and great neck, sporty trot and canter. There were some pretty significant training holes, specifically, the mare didn’t want to go forward. But no naughtiness, just kind of said ‘no’. When I got on, it took me some time to get her going, but when she did go, no nagging/kicking to keep her going. For now I’m assessing it as a training quirk or potential ulcers (she’s had several significant changes over the last couple of months). The price was low enough that I was willing to take the risk. I picked her up yesterday. Barn name forthcoming, but here are some pictures.
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Cute! I love her!
Saying “no” would not surprise me with her breeding. But I also think with a relationship it will be a non-issue.
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